Guild Wars 2

Hey Engineers,

There’s been a lot of demand for competitive power build alternatives for Static Discharge variants, lately. If you’ve ever felt something to that effect, try plugging in the following:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlIqiY38SyF17IyIFdmoJSR+pffewWPIEC-ToAg0CnIyRpjTHTOygsBNE5AB

^The above is my main tournament build. Note that Medkit and Healing turret are interchangeable. Medkit grants fury for the combo as well as better might stacking, & a heal refresh @ 25% health. Despite this, I normally run healing turret for the quicker healing, condition removal & water combos.

The main pillars of the build are:

• Great downed body pressure.
• Great juggling/control on kill targets.
• Good 1v1 capability (Does not keep points capped, however.)

Here is some basic tournament footage:
http://www.twitch.tv/chaithh/c/3125309

Here is a highlight of a good Death Combo™
http://www.twitch.tv/chaithh/c/3125426

Roles:

• Peripheral Team Fighter – This build functions best on the peripheral edges of teamfights, pumping grenades and hip shots into enemy clusters.

• Every 20s, attempts to combo an enemy Necromancer/Engineer priority target with Magnet enemy into dangerous position, Prybar, Overcharge Shot, Throw Wrench, Net Shot, Grenade Barrage. When magnet is done properly, all 5 subsequent actions are guaranteed hits, with full potency – provided that the target doesn’t have a stability/invulnerability to blow.

• Every 60s, attempt to ‘death combo’ an enemy Necromancer/Engineer priority target with Magnet enemy into dangerous position, Prybar, Slick Shoes ring, Grenade Barrage, Jump Shot, Blunderbus, Overcharge Shot, Net Shot, Throw Wrench, Grenade x2. Same deal, when landed properly, makes the juggled enemy target unable to do anything while you land a full range of abilities.

• Occasional Home Point – I swap out with the Good Fights™ spirit ranger who’s on home point duty if the enemy team is trying to counter him by sending Warriors over. This build duels Warriors pretty successfully, but there are better variants. It’s an ‘all-purpose’ build, for now.

Build #2

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlIqiY38SyF1LJyoCdGoC5lIF5n+95Bb9gQIA-ToAA1CnIyRpjTHTOygsBNE5AB

This is a more tanky variant of my main tournament build that is better suited to dueling Warriors while keeping the point capped in the Engineer’s favor. Less utility in teamfights than berserker.

Hope you guys enjoy trying out these builds.

Considering I have first hand seen the strength of this build on the receiving end I’m aware that this can be very good, but I wonder why you’re using HGH/Might stacking rune set up with minimal might building capabilities? I mean, if you use someone else’s fire field you’ve got two blast finishers, and then weapon swap, and then enhance preformance off cooldown, I can only see ~18 stacks of might being up at any one time at maximum.

Of course that’s not horrible, but surely those rune slots would be better used damage wise on superior shrek runes or scholar or something?

Almost exactly what I started using in tPvP a few days ago for luls. Instead of the wrench trait, though, I went with static discharge. On some maps I swap out speedy kits for HGH. Fun build.

Writetyper.1985:

Considering I have first hand seen the strength of this build on the receiving end I’m aware that this can be very good, but I wonder why you’re using HGH/Might stacking rune set up with minimal might building capabilities? I mean, if you use someone else’s fire field you’ve got two blast finishers, and then weapon swap, and then enhance preformance off cooldown, I can only see ~18 stacks of might being up at any one time at maximum.

Of course that’s not horrible, but surely those rune slots would be better used damage wise on superior shrek runes or scholar or something?

If only the Engineer could use Grenades, Incendiary powder, and Toolkit and simultaneously fold all the condition pressure into pure power damage. I wish, too! It would make rune choices so easy to maximize.

I’ll explain my decisions the best I can, why 15 perma might, or 18 perma might if Medkit is being used – trumps the ogre/scholar set, for adding the most overall utility, in my experience.

• This build’s damage composition is probably 80% power damage, 20% condition damage. This is in a full berserker setup – the Engineer cannot escape hybrid damage, so might stacking which increases both power & condition damage is very effective.

• Of that 80% power damage this build does, about 45% of that 80% is explosion power damage. That’s why I’m not very incentivized to use the other options for Master Tier explosive traits, such as 10% explosion damage, which I’d value at about a 4.5% output increase. Or the 20% CD reduction to grenades, because my Grenade1 is actually a good filler.

Engineers & Elementalists that spew large involuntary amounts of conditions, even when power based, just scale so well with might. Having might makes your rifle hit like a truck, where the alternative makes your rifle hit like a mini cooper. I’d imagine that’d still hurt, but in my opinion, being stacked with might is almost always more dangerous than scholar runes/fire sigil. As an Engineer/ele, not as a thief/warrior

If there was a way to build solely a power damage assassin Engineer, like AK Engi’s 100mine setup, then might stacking would be less effective. But heck, even when I ran 100nades, I used a might stacking variant and that was even marginally better.

Sure, makes perfect sense – I saw the zerkers amulet and immediately assumed pure power build. I guess the twofold physical and condi pressure from stacked might can really add up.

I’ve been on the receiving end of this build, and it hurts.

I’d love to see some vids of this in action. I love/hate that we have so many builds. So much gear to farm. Full apothecary, dire, zerker and now whatever this build uses. Being gated by laurels means my alts will never get any love.

Edit:
PS. Thank God for protection injection and stabilizing armor. Just clicked it an saw that it used zerker armor. Sweet! I won’t have to farm gear to use in wvw. Though I would have to get another set of Runes of the Noble. 75 power vs 183 condi dmg but more importantly, 60% might duration vs 40% might duration AND 3 stacks of might on heal.

Alkaholic.3875:

I’d love to see some vids of this in action. I love/hate that we have so many builds. So much gear to farm. Full apothecary, dire, zerker and now whatever this build uses. Being gated by laurels means my alts will never get any love.

Edit:
PS. Thank God for protection injection and stabilizing armor. Just clicked it an saw that it used zerker armor. Sweet! I won’t have to farm gear to use in wvw. Though I would have to get another set of Runes of the Noble. 75 power vs 183 condi dmg but more importantly, 60% might duration vs 40% might duration AND 3 stacks of might on heal.

On the subject of runes & gearing -

The build linked is in a tPvP format. In WvW, Runes of the Noble would be competitive, but 2 Fire, 2 Strength, and 2 Altruism runes do the exact same things, just instead of Noble Rune’s +183 condition damage, instead you’d be bringing +50 power & +25 healing. Highly comparable for an Engineer power based build.

Since you brought up Stabilized armor – my favorite build doesn’t bring stabilized armor. I prefer having a 16s cooldown on my block, 20s cd on my burst and cripple added to the combo mix.

So, good news is that the final ten points in tools are highly adaptable. The 30/0/0/20/10 – 60/70 of points spent is quite firm for every damage based tPvP Engineer (in my personal opinion, since I’m not an advocate of deep firearms.)

Best places to shift those last 10 points around:

• You could easily put those in inventions for Stabilized Armor like you prefer, Cloaking Device, or Protective Shield if one of those appeals. Stabilized Armor in a build with toughness & protection would be truly impossible to deal with as a control warrior.

• You could put it into firearms for Hair Trigger, or Sitting Duck – quite an underrated trait. I like 10 points into Firearms when I build as a more tanky bruiser – the condition damage and very competitive Adept traits for dueling.

• You could re-invest it in Alchemy Further, adding HP & Boon duration for might stacking. Pick up a really nice trait, like Backpack Regenerator or Perhaps Automated response if you are a 1v1 troll at heart. I feel that this takes the build down a slightly different direction, however.

Ur title clearly said tPvP and here I go trying to adapt it to WvW. My bad. One of these days I’ll have the patience to sit in queue for solo tPvP to get my Champion Genius title. Anywho, awesome build, guide, explanations and answers.

/salute

I love the concept of this build. I’ve run variations before. Glasscannons usually can’t eat the full combo due to lack of stunbreaks before dropping and you can do some serious 2k Rifle autos. Being on the receiving end of the combo with a Necro or an Engi (personal experience here…) hurts real bad.
I went 30/0/0/10/30 (http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUl0pic38SiF17IyoHdGpJaiKkffewWtFEC-TkAg0CnIQShkDJDSSksINsA) for Fury + Static Discharge and quick Grenade Barrage gibs but I do feel naked without at least Protection Injection. That trait is very dependable.

@Alkaholic: For a title grind, if you have a free day I highly suggest setting a target of 5 wins → 10 wins then a break. Couple that with chatting to good teammates/enemy players you meet. Time will fly by so fast. I also suggest a condition-based spec like (http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIq6Z37SiF17IyoCdmoH5nl5YfewWyFEC-ToAAzCuIaS1krJTTymsNNWY+B) because it’s easier to play and require less concentration/allow more mistakes than a Power-based spec. Then again I haven’t come across too many warriors and the Control spec with protection and blocks and all that juggling might just be the answer to those. I would love to see some Warrior tears.

I play a bunker build and usually go and hold far point. It usually takes 2+ to kill me so I do my part to help our team win but it still depends on the quality of team mates and the regularity of the queue. I heard that there are 15 mins between pops and my ADHD won’t wait that long.

Halfway thru 49 but being a hotjoin hero doesn’t equal skillz so I’m sure I’ll have my work cut out for me. 58% thru tier 2 I think.

Oooh something new, time to try it. Many thanks!

Ralkuth.1456:

I love the concept of this build. I’ve run variations before. Glasscannons usually can’t eat the full combo due to lack of stunbreaks before dropping and you can do some serious 2k Rifle autos. Being on the receiving end of the combo with a Necro or an Engi (personal experience here…) hurts real bad.
I went 30/0/0/10/30 (http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUl0pic38SiF17IyoHdGpJaiKkffewWtFEC-TkAg0CnIQShkDJDSSksINsA) for Fury + Static Discharge and quick Grenade Barrage gibs but I do feel naked without at least Protection Injection. That trait is very dependable.

@Alkaholic: For a title grind, if you have a free day I highly suggest setting a target of 5 wins -> 10 wins then a break. Couple that with chatting to good teammates/enemy players you meet. Time will fly by so fast. I also suggest a condition-based spec like (http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIq6Z37SiF17IyoCdmoH5nl5YfewWyFEC-ToAAzCuIaS1krJTTymsNNWY+B) because it’s easier to play and require less concentration/allow more mistakes than a Power-based spec. Then again I haven’t come across too many warriors and the Control spec with protection and blocks and all that juggling might just be the answer to those. I would love to see some Warrior tears.

Running without protection injection takes huge stones, in pvp. In WvW, I YOLO even harder, typically. Switching slick shoes for either Rocket boots, or Rifle Turret

@ Chaith: Indeed. Either go Rabid Condi or Zerk Rifle + at least Protection Injection. Thank you for the idea, I was testing out Slick Shoes with Power specs since I ran it with Condi builds, and I’ve wanted to see if it’s viable in aggressive combos. I’ll keep protection built-in now, since I want to live past any CC-spikes. Even if I react correctly I feel as vulnerable as a Necro when a Thief decides to train me. We can quick gib Necros and Engi’s and most things under 50%, but I feel Magnet is easily dodged if not used from behind/in stealth. And I’m pretty sure we know about the unintended quirks of Magnet when you want to be clutch, but it doesn’t…
In WvW I don’t have much experience, but I’ve seen 100% crit damage and all-out Yolo Zerker builds one-shotting more fragile players, and some crazy 3k rifle crits.

@Alkaholic: You can Hotjoin while Solo Que’d if you want to warm up that way. I don’t know how I endured the wait, but it’s around 5-8mins for me and I’m in the percentiles as I recall. Join immediately after you come out of a match and you’ll be set up faster. Set aside a few hours a day and I’m sure you’ll have the title in a week or two.

@Ralkuth: I’ll give that a try, lots of craft beer and patience. I’ll be working on Kegmaster also. I think Alkaholic <Most Likely Drunk> Kegmaster is the perfect name/guild/title while I get my HGH on…

Alkaholic.3875:

I play a bunker build and usually go and hold far point. It usually takes 2+ to kill me so I do my part to help our team win but it still depends on the quality of team mates and the regularity of the queue. I heard that there are 15 mins between pops and my ADHD won’t wait that long.

Halfway thru 49 but being a hotjoin hero doesn’t equal skillz so I’m sure I’ll have my work cut out for me. 58% thru tier 2 I think.

Queue time can be up to 10 minutes depending on the time of day and your spot on the leaderboard, but don’t forget that you can join from anywhere and return to that location when you’re done.

Bumping this on request

Best Engi NA! Go Chaith!

Awesome job in the tournament!

How the hell do you win with a combo that relies on magnet? I can do the rotation just fine but magnet is way too predictable to be relied on imo.

FlamingForce.6389:

How the hell do you win with a combo that relies on magnet? I can do the rotation just fine but magnet is way too predictable to be relied on imo.

Patience, mostly. People are really scared of overcharge shot and are usually more than happy to blow multiple dodges when you enter kill range.

I do consider Magnet a pretty broken skill, seeing as it’s random where your enemy lands, and random how many times the magnet moves them. It really affects Engineer gameplay negatively. But the good outweighs the bad.

When magnet gives you lemons, just use your grenade throwing arm.

Not sure if everyone here only plays sPvP, but here is a variant of this for WvW that I’ve found outstanding. I switch slick shoes out for the EG and use healing turret for more group oriented fights.

WvW build

Like Forty Seven Ninjas.6982:

Not sure if everyone here only plays sPvP, but here is a variant of this for WvW that I’ve found outstanding. I switch slick shoes out for the EG and use healing turret for more group oriented fights.

WvW build

My WvW build is nearly identical! Try celestial gear, it has about 55% more stats packed into it than other exotic level gear, all of which is used by this build well.

Chaith.8256:

Like Forty Seven Ninjas.6982:

Not sure if everyone here only plays sPvP, but here is a variant of this for WvW that I’ve found outstanding. I switch slick shoes out for the EG and use healing turret for more group oriented fights.

WvW build

My WvW build is nearly identical! Try celestial gear, it has about 55% more stats packed into it than other exotic level gear, all of which is used by this build well.

I’ll check it out, thanks for the tip. I think if any class would benefit from celestial, it would be the engineer.

Any updates to this build post patch, Sensei Chaith?

Alkaholic.3875:

Sensei Chaith?

The patch has completely missed, and has not changed any single thing that my build uses. So, no changes to the build – but comparatively, the other builds out there that used bombs, or Elixir S, or Elixir B are stronger.

If I was going to majorly alter my build, I would definitely consider running a 30/0/0/30/10 HgH standard power nade build, which is situationally better.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQFAUlspiYnvSdF17IyoCdmoHPGlNZfewWtFEC-ToAg0CnI0RFkLIjOycs5ME5AB

I do feel that in a Teamfight type scenario, HgH power nades performs as well, and pulls ahead if you aren’t able to get good magnet Magnet pulls due to Anet hating magnet. The 1v1 as HgH power nades is not nearly as strong, which doesn’t appeal a super lot to me, because thats a big part of my role in my pvp team.

Reasons I don’t go HgH Rifle in light of new patch:

Some really great things that I feel I can’t live without sometimes:

• Permanent Vigor.
• Permanent Swiftness.
• Protection Injection or Backpack Regenerator.
• 3 Seconds of block, 16s CD.
• A lethal kill combo.
• Super hard hitting Prybar & Wrench
• Huge control with Magnet & Slick Shoes.
• Healing Turret support for allies.

Dealing with Warriors, I feel like not having even one of some of these defensive things is asking to get a lethal Hammer to the face. The Vigor/Speedy kits combo, the Protection Injection or Backpack Regenerator are among the best traits in the game, imo. Things you’re better off with HgH for:

• Marginally better condition removal. 10-13 removals in chunks of 1, every minute versus the healing turret’s 6-8, every minute, in chunks of 2.
• Elixir S is simply more defensive than Slick Shoes, and will get you out of REALLY bad situations better than Super Speed. I do miss invuln stomps.
• NEW Reliably short stability every 30s. (Combo’ing this with Rifle 4 is great.)
• NEW Reliable stealth every 60s. (Clutch revives & stomps)
• Harder hitting nades. You get like 5 more might stacks for being HgH and you get Forceful Explosives, 10% nade power damage.

They’re both pretty desirable builds .. I’m working on my combos with HgH. I might convert down the road if more people let me just rain nades on teamfights more often.

I really love the build, Chaith, and been using it for a while. Up until the patch, I’ve been seeing more people run it and variations of other power builds, but I think we’ll probably see a decline in power engis after the patch :/.

May I ask why you think we’ll have less?

Alkaholic.3875:

May I ask why you think we’ll have less?

Because bombs were slightly buffed, and HgH builds were buffed. These are more often used as a condition user, I’m guessing. Although you can swing either way to some degree of success.

Don’t have celestial, knight or cavalier. Went in WvWvW as a zerker and had a BLAST yesterday. I was able to run away most of the time w/ super speed, gear shield, box o nails, and speedy kits. Where I saw a lot of results were the thieves that would unstealth in downed state due to dmg from jump shot, pry bar, or nade barrage. I’m half tempted to trait Acidic Elixirs and use Elixir H and throw it to remove stability before the fight as it would help w/ my pulls and the field is huge. We shall see…

Alkaholic.3875:

I’m half tempted to trait Acidic Elixirs and use Elixir H and throw it to remove stability before the fight as it would help w/ my pulls and the field is huge. We shall see…

Next level strats. Lol.

I’m a norn, so when I roam with this build, I just pop on Become the Leopard and that allows me to escape a zerg-dive.

I chose the master race, Asura. My only other escape is Elixir X RNG for Rampage and it’s 3 skill…

Alkaholic.3875:

I chose the master race, Asura. My only other escape is Elixir X RNG for Rampage and it’s 3 skill…

For pure WvW roaming, I think rocket boots is definitely a better bet than Elixir X. Try taking that over the slick shoes – see how that feels.

Gratz Chaith…

…I’m such an engie groupie, first Teldo, now U.

Love the power rifle / prybar /grenades build. Thx man

Yeah, I started using Chaith’s build after he linked it in the thread I started about being able to beat necros, and after playing it for a few weeks in wvw and deciding I wanted to hit as hard as I possibly could I ended up changing it around to look like this http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcQQFAUl0picHxy3F17IyoHdGpJaiKkffewWtFEC-j0xAY/gQWCSyrIasthioxqrxUuER127ioVLFwoCjA-w Use Drop stimulant, magnet, grenade barrage, and blunderbuss and any glass cannon is dead if they don’t have invuln or block. I switch out rocket boots for slick shoes if I see a class I need to cc in the distance or in a small group fight, otherwise I keep rocket boots up. So glad Chaith actually showed me how viable power was, because if not for him I would not have given it a chance, and I cannot tell you how many people I have absolutely demolished in wvw running this full burst build.

With that being said, if your burst goes south, between rocketboots, jumpshot, permanent swiftness, and two snares you can get out of some hairy stuff. Anyway good luck and happy engineering.

And a big thanks to Chaith for showing me the greatness of the power rifle. Oh how I still miss 100 nades, but this is pretty kitten itself >:D

You mention you use this or a variation for WVW, can you throw up a link to the build with gear etc?

Much appreciated. I’ve played condition for a long time, looking for change.

I linked it in the above post. Its just full zerker with as much damage capability as possible. It is not uncommon at all for me to kill thieves, and eles with a single grenade barrage. Other classes are a little harder, but as I said if they are glass a blunderbuss and throw wrench will finish the job.

Classes w/ ports or blinks are not so fun but whatev…

Chaith mentions using celestial gear though and not berserkers. Also is this just a solo roaming build or can be used in the zerg? Berserkers for sure is a poor idea in the zerg and I thought it was generally a poor idea for even solo roaming.

I might be wrong as I don’t play my engineer as much as I used to. Looking for reasons to come back to it.

Celestial provides a more balanced engineer but I didn’t have celestial and CBA to farm that gear so I just went w/ what I had, full zerker. To be honest, u don’t lose that much survivability cause if they were gonna gib u before, they’re still gonna gib u now. W/ this spec, u have enough mobility to escape and a plethora of escape tools, Gear Shield, Slick Shoes, Super Speed, Box o Nails, Elixir X (Rampage), Supply Drop, etc. I kinda play it like a thief w/o the stealth, snipe people by pulling them in w/ Magnet pull after seeing them evade once or twice or if they don’t have stability then unload. Run away, rinse and repeat. Again, this is just how I personally play it.

As far as zerg surfing, I would again play like a thief pulling folks out of the back line because no amount of toughness/vitality can survive the hammer train w/o stability. But I’m only rank 25 in WvW so I could be talkin out my kitten.

KOPPER.1458:

You mention you use this or a variation for WVW, can you throw up a link to the build with gear etc?

Much appreciated. I’ve played condition for a long time, looking for change.

http://www.twitch.tv/chaithh

In the description there’s a link to my WvW roaming build and customization suggestions!

Basically like Alkaholic said, you don’t want to be up in the middle of a zerg or on the front lines with this build. Basically you play the outskirts of the zerg and pull people to you and unload on them, assuming they don’t have stability up, but I love full zerkers for both zerg play and solo roaming, it took me a while to really learn to survive the thief burst, and sometimes one will still get me, but as Chaith once told me I kill a lot more of them than the ones who kill me

How do you deal with Thieves in sPVP? Just started to use this build today and the thieves were really taking it to me.

I am probably positioning wrong for the most part but I can’t seem to escape them. Mesmers were also a pain in my butt. I die very quickly.

KOPPER.1458:

How do you deal with Thieves in sPVP? Just started to use this build today and the thieves were really taking it to me.

I am probably positioning wrong for the most part but I can’t seem to escape them. Mesmers were also a pain in my butt. I die very quickly.

Playing a glassy Engineer has a big learning curve, there’s no getting around that. Mesmers are going to be your natural enemy. Here’s why you should avoid straight Mesmer fights as much as possible, from a power Engineer PoV:

• As they do extremely high damage from range with pinpoint accuracy, ie: no chance to miss, you’ll be struggling to counter-pressure them with super inaccurate attacks.

• Even an experienced grenade user will never have a hope of returning the same ranged pressure to a good mesmer. They maintain a constant 900-1200 range, nullifying most of your abilities, while doing great pressure, without many key presses. This means they can focus their attention span on dodging the one or two abilities you might poke through like Magnet

• Magnet will be your primary way of getting the Mesmer out of his perma-kite position. It’s very dangerous ability to a Mesmer who doesn’t have blink, decoy, or phase retreat. This is pretty unlikely, because a Mesmer sitting in staff can either phase retreat, blink, or decoy 9.5-10 times a minute, or every 6s on average. If he manages these properly, your hopes of getting a meaningful immobilize or knockdown in which to deal reliable damage is pretty much zero. So, you have to severely outplay the Mesmer to match his damage up-time. Use magnet anyways, sometimes the Mesmer does mess up and you can get a small grenade combo going if his reflexes aren’t good.

• The important thing vs. kiting mesmers is to always keep the hip shots flowing, as that’s the only reliable pressure that can be done, using my build.

• Good tips to turn a fight around – When a Mesmer is flexxin’ on you, play defensively for 5 seconds (quickly hop behind something) and get him targeted, then face off with him using hip shots. Assuming Greatsword is equipped, you can easily dodge the first hits from his Phantasmal Berserkers as long as you aren’t panicking, and you can clearly see the Mesmer. Time the dodge as soon as his hands come down from the casting position. Always be closing the gap, and really focus on landing net shots. If you land a net shot, its very likely he will blow blink, because they can afford to be super cautious. Catch him in greatsword, open with a Magnet after you refocus him, and catch him trying to heal or mass invis, typically. If you get a successful magnet, with his blink down, when he’s in greatsword, you MIGHT win, if he used his distortion improperly. Even if he uses decoy, try using your death combo on where you the Magnet placed him. There’s a chance he might still be trapped.

Thanks Chaith. Clearly a lot to learn. I like that.

KOPPER.1458:

Thanks Chaith. Clearly a lot to learn. I like that.

NP. I did a writeup on Thieves too, but the forums ate it.

If you have trouble with Thieves with my build:

• Consider going soldier’s amulet, with berserker jewel. Only do this vs. extremely glass Sword/Dagger thieves, that don’t go Acrobatics – or if you are inexperienced at recognizing and dealing with the Dagger/Pistol Thief’s basilisk venom combo.

• Sword/Dagger thief strat: Play aggressively, push towards his Sword2 “Shadow Return” point. If you fight defensively on a point, and you let the thief port back at his leisure while patiently waiting for him to open again, you’re playing right into his hands. Keep pushing him back towards his Shadow Return point, and get a good knockdown with overcharge shot. You’re trying to force the Shadowstep. Once he has blown shadow step, keep aggression on his teleport spots, and magnet him back to the point, so his Shadow Return won’t save him. Get some Slick Shoes all over his character and over the teleport spot, and just unload everything on him. You should have the most dead Thief NA (or EU) at your feet.

• Dagger/Pistol: This is a bit easier of a match-up, in my opinion. As long as you don’t die in the first second. As soon as you see Basilisk venom, stunbreak it, dodge roll, and put your block up lightning-fast. If you know the Thief’s shadowstep is down, then while you have Super Speed up, and block up, activate slick shoes, whip around, and death combo him, if he’s still tunnel visioning you in his Dagger/Pistol. It’ll be super easy to put him in the slick shoes ring since you’re so fast. It usually won’t be this easy, though. Often the Thief will instantly switch to his shortbow after the failed gank and you will plink away at each other. Keep closing the gap to him and spamming hip shot. He’s super scared of your Overcharged Shot typically, so he’ll likely start spinning his wheels spamming 3 and spamming dodge. Stay close, try to dodge the cripples yourself, dodge close to him and poke your Overcharged Shot in after he’s exhausted his dodges. Remember, you just need to force the Shadow Step before using slick shoes. The next time he tries to flex on you with his dagger set, block and then death combo him with super speed. Often this won’t ever happen, because the thief is too defensive and you just end up hip shooting him to death .. hip shot > trick shot, 1v1.

Chaith.8256:

KOPPER.1458:

Thanks Chaith. Clearly a lot to learn. I like that.

• Dagger/Pistol: This is a bit easier of a match-up, in my opinion. As long as you don’t die in the first second. As soon as you see Basilisk venom, stunbreak it, dodge roll, and put your block up lightning-fast. If you know the Thief’s shadowstep is down, then while you have Super Speed up, and block up, activate slick shoes, whip around, and death combo him, if he’s still tunnel visioning you in his Dagger/Pistol. It’ll be super easy to put him in the slick shoes ring since you’re so fast. It usually won’t be this easy, though.

LOL! Had a fight play out exactly like this last night. Then I got called a glory farming, OP build using, no life, nerd. :’(

Chaith.8256:

KOPPER.1458:

You mention you use this or a variation for WVW, can you throw up a link to the build with gear etc?

Much appreciated. I’ve played condition for a long time, looking for change.

http://www.twitch.tv/chaithh

In the description there’s a link to my WvW roaming build and customization suggestions!

Awesome stuff Chaithh. Any suggestions for those of us that don’t have Celestial yet?

Sherlock.2035:

Chaith.8256:

KOPPER.1458:

You mention you use this or a variation for WVW, can you throw up a link to the build with gear etc?

Much appreciated. I’ve played condition for a long time, looking for change.

http://www.twitch.tv/chaithh

In the description there’s a link to my WvW roaming build and customization suggestions!

Awesome stuff Chaithh. Any suggestions for those of us that don’t have Celestial yet?

Yeah, I would just mix in some Soldier’s gear instead. Not a lot, just enough to give you the reaction time needed vs. glassy thieves and mesmers.

Also, just added some basic footage of the build.